Among other things, one or more systems and techniques for retuning a semiconductor fabrication component are provided. The semiconductor fabrication component, such as an advanced process control (APC) component, is configured to evaluate or adjust various fabrication parameters associated with semiconductor fabrication processing. Processing data associated with the semiconductor fabrication component is evaluated to formulate performance indices used to evaluate performance of parameters used by the semiconductor fabrication component. One or more fabrication process change simulations are performed to generate a component operating behavior data structure indicating how different values for the parameters result in improved or degraded performance by the semiconductor fabrication component. In this way, the component operating behavior data structure is evaluated to identify tuning values for the parameters that are used to retune the semiconductor fabrication component.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method for retuning a parameter of a semiconductor fabrication component, comprising: evaluating processing data associated with a semiconductor fabrication component to formulate performance indices; performing one or more fabrication process change simulations based upon the performance indices to generate a component operating behavior data structure; identifying a first tuning value for a first parameter used by the semiconductor fabrication component based upon the component operating behavior data structure indicating the first tuning value retunes the semiconductor fabrication component with respect to a first current value for the first parameter specified within the processing data; identifying a second tuning value for a second parameter used by the semiconductor fabrication component based upon the component operating behavior data structure indicating the second tuning value retunes the semiconductor fabrication component with respect to a second current value for the second parameter specified within the processing data; and retuning the first parameter from the first current value to the first tuning value and the second parameter from the second current value to the second tuning value, wherein: the component operating behavior data structure comprises a characteristic surface for the first parameter and the second parameter; and the characteristic surface comprises a surface comprising a retuning point that correlates a selected retuning cost to a tuning parameter pairing value corresponding to the first tuning value for the first parameter and the second tuning value for the second parameter, the first tuning value and the second tuning value selected based upon the tuning parameter pairing value being correlated to the selected retuning cost.
2. The method of claim 1 , the semiconductor fabrication component comprising an advanced process control (APC) component.
3. The method of claim 1 , the first parameter corresponding to a controller parameter.
4. The method of claim 1 , the first parameter corresponding to a filter parameter.
5. The method of claim 1 , the component operating behavior data structure derived from a characteristic curve for the first parameter.
6. The method of claim 1 , the performance indices corresponding to performance characteristics of the semiconductor fabrication component with respect to control of one or more fabrication parameters.
7. The method of claim 1 , the retuning comprising: automatically retuning the first parameter.
8. The method of claim 1 , comprising: implementing a periodic retuning schedule for the semiconductor fabrication component.
9. The method of claim 1 , the retuning comprising: retuning the second parameter in parallel with retuning the first parameter.
10. The method of claim 1 , the retuning comprising: sequentially retuning the first parameter and then the second parameter.
11. The method of claim 1 , the processing data comprising at least one of an upstream tool output, a control input, a process output, a tool setting, a controller setting, a process target, or a set of parameters employed by the semiconductor fabrication component.
12. The method of claim 1 , the performing one or more fabrication process change simulations comprising at least one of: performing an initial fabrication process simulation using the first current value for the first parameter; or performing a fabrication process change simulation using a new first current value for the first parameter.
13. A system for retuning a parameter of a semiconductor fabrication component, comprising: a processing unit; and a non-transitory memory comprising instructions that when executed by the processing unit cause a tuning component: evaluate processing data associated with a semiconductor fabrication component to formulate performance indices; perform one or more fabrication process change simulations based upon the performance indices to generate a component operating behavior data structure; identify a first tuning value for a first parameter used by the semiconductor fabrication component based upon the component operating behavior data structure indicating the first tuning value satisfies an objective performance function for the semiconductor fabrication component; identify a second tuning value for a second parameter used by the semiconductor fabrication component based upon the component operating behavior data structure indicating the second tuning value satisfies the objective performance function for the semiconductor fabrication component; and retune the first parameter from a first current value for the first parameter to the first tuning value and the second parameter from a second current value to the second tuning value, wherein: the component operating behavior data structure comprises a characteristic surface for the first parameter and the second parameter; and the characteristic surface comprises a surface comprising a retuning point that correlates a selected retuning cost to a tuning parameter pairing value corresponding to the first tuning value for the first parameter and the second tuning value for the second parameter, the selected retuning cost describing the objective performance function.
14. The system of claim 13 , the tuning component implemented across a plurality of computing devices.
15. The system of claim 13 , the component operating behavior data structure derived from a characteristic curve for the first parameter.
16. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which when executed at least in part via a processing unit perform a method for retuning a semiconductor fabrication component, comprising: evaluating processing data associated with a semiconductor fabrication component to formulate performance indices; performing one or more fabrication process change simulations based upon the performance indices to generate a component operating behavior data structure; identifying a tuning parameter pairing used by the semiconductor fabrication component, the tuning parameter pairing comprising a first parameter and a second parameter; identifying a tuning parameter pairing value for the tuning parameter pairing based upon the component operating behavior data structure indicating the tuning parameter pairing value satisfies an objective performance function for the semiconductor fabrication component; and retuning the semiconductor fabrication component based upon the tuning parameter pairing value, wherein: the component operating behavior data structure comprises a characteristic surface for the first parameter and the second parameter; and the characteristic surface comprises a surface comprising a retuning point that correlates a selected retuning cost to the tuning parameter pairing value, the tuning parameter pairing value corresponding to a first tuning value for the first parameter and a second tuning value for the second parameter, the selected retuning cost describing the objective performance function.
17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , the performing one or more fabrication process change simulations comprising: performing an initial fabrication process simulation using a first value for the first parameter; and performing a fabrication process change simulation using a second value for the first parameter.
18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , the component operating behavior data structure derived from a first characteristic curve for the first parameter.
19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , the component operating behavior data structure derived from a second characteristic curve for the second parameter.
20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , the semiconductor fabrication component comprising an advanced process control (APC) component.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
September 18, 2013
April 26, 2016
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